Page Turners – September review

In September the Page Turners read ‘The Trouble with Goats and Sheep‘ by Joanna Cannon.

The book is set in the summer of 1976 when two young girls spend their summer holiday exploring the mysterious disappearance of one of their neighbours. They are inspired by a sermon they hear at church where the Vicar explains the biblical distinction between ‘goats’ and ‘sheep’ and they believe that if they look for God, they may find the truth about their neighbour. As the girls continue their enquiries, we learn that everyone in the cul-de-sac is harbouring long-held secrets and the trouble with goats and sheep is that you cannot always tell one from the other.

We enjoyed this book and particularly liked the way it evoked strong memories of the seventies. It is set in a community where everyone seemed to know each other’s business and the children were safe to roam around the neighbour’s homes. However we noted that in contrast to this apparent safety, things could be anything but safe for anyone that the residents turned against.

We thought the book was very well written. We enjoyed the humour and the beautiful imagery. We were less enthusiastic about the plot than the writing although some of us liked the way that things were not always fully revealed. The story was often told from the point of view of the children and the reader, with their adult knowledge and experience, was left to join the dots for themselves.

If you would like the pleasure of reading this book for yourself, please get in touch and we can exchange our page turner for one of your own.

Deborah Wallis